


Morning rituals

by vickytokio



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fix-It, Gen, Post-Canon, They're not really a ship here just Merthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 17:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21080105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vickytokio/pseuds/vickytokio
Summary: There's only so much memory can hold, but Merlin liked to think he kept all the important bits.





	Morning rituals

**Author's Note:**

> I was scrolling through Tumblr as one is prone to do and came across this post  
https://thegreymoon.tumblr.com/post/188423952604/absolutely-all-this-also-lets-not-forget  
I really just couldn't resist

He thought he'd never forget anything about the prat, he loved him way too much, and was completely sure the memory of him had stayed intact in his mind. But 1500 years was a very long time to wait.  
Arthur had been settling about as well as could be expected after finally returning. There'd been tears (lots on Merlin's side, but also some from Arthur), the loss of everything he'd ever known had been a blow, but he took it like the king he always was. He mourned for his knights and subjects, mourned for his friends and wife, and then he pulled himself together to figure out the reason for his return.  
They weren't very different around each other. Arthur was less of a royal pain now, for sure "I'm not king anymore, _Mer_lin" and Merlin was happy to oblige to this new found independency, but not much had changed.  
Really, it hadn't been easy, with them having a proper talk about the magic, and the lies, the fear for Merlin, the betrayal for Arthur, it was a long, long night when they finally had that conversation and both sides had apologized, both. So in view of all the huge, terrible things they'd handled in the past few weeks, it was silly really that what put Arthur out of his axis was the fact that Merlin forgot how he ate his porridge.  
They'd been having breakfast, and Merlin made a snide comment on the way Arthur was mixing berries and porridge until it was goo.  
“I've always done that _Mer_lin!”, he dismissed, stirring his bowl some more.  
“"Oh, okay then.”  
Arthur had looked up at that, some indecipherable emotion on his face.  
“You didn't remember.”  
“Not really” - Merlin shrugged, it wasn’t exactly life or death information – “will put it on my notes 'prat eats disgusting porridge'.”  
He laughed, and Arthur smiled, but it looked odd on his face. As soon as breakfast was finished, Arthur got up and went to his room.  
It took Merlin a while to stop being indignant. It was porridge for Gods' sake, he hadn't forgotten anything important! Over a millennia, how the hell was he supposed to remember every single tiny thing that had happened in his huge ass enormous life?! He was deciding between going in there and ranting or simply ignoring Arthur for a while when he realized what that emotion on Arthur's face had been.  
His friend wasn't mad, or frustrated. He was sad. The kind of bone deep ache Merlin saw in his eyes when he lost people he loved. Oh...  
He went to the bathroom and got a comb, then entered Arthur's room.  
“You never did learn how to knock did you?”, Arthur was sitting on the desk and staring out the window, attempting to keep his tone light, but not quite managing.  
Merlin didn't say anything, just walked towards him and lifted the comb. Arthur's eyes widened a little in surprise, but he didn't make any move to stop it, so Merlin started gently running the comb through the strands and disentangling the silky gold like they used to long ago.  
It had been routine back in Camelot for Merlin to fix Arthur's hair. They started one time the prince had his arm on a sling and just never stopped.  
“I didn't forget you”, he said softly, tucking a stray hair back in its place and carrying on, “you didn't lose me, I'm right here.”  
Arthur sighed deeply, still staring outside.  
“I know. I'm glad to have you by my side.” He turned around to look his friend in the eyes “Thank you.”  
It was just as heartfelt a thank you as last time, but this one had a promise of future instead of an apology for an end.  
“You're welcome”, he answered with a smile as he couldn't the first time, and on they went with their lifes.


End file.
